At $9,500, Is This 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250 A Stately Steal?

Like cockroaches and Keith Richards, the MB-Tex upholstery in today’s Nice Price of No Dice Mercedes will probably outlive us all. Let’s see if the car’s price makes it equally as enduring.

It’s a rare occurrence for an automaker to pull a long-disused nameplate off the shelf, dust it off, and reintroduce it to the car-buying public. Daimler did it with the Maybach marque. And, of course, there’s Bugatti’s phenomenal resurrection, which saw that storied brand brought back from the dead by Volkswagen after a four-decade hiatus.

The 2011 Aston Martin Rapide we looked at last Friday carried a name from the past; however, it wasn’t Aston’s past. The name Rapide came from Lagonda, a subsidiary brand that Aston Martin acquired after WWII. The company borrowed it for its first-ever four-door, the achingly beautiful DB9-based saloon introduced in 2010. Our car originally went for a staggering $200K, but with time and a general market malaise, it now asks a mere $45,500, about the average price of new cars sold today. The Rapide, however, is anything but average, something you all noted in the comments and in the 62% Nice Price win you awarded the clean and capable car.

While Daimler did call Maybach back into active duty service, there’s another, not quite so famous name that the company is unlikely to reuse. That’s “Strich Acht” or Stroke Eight, which is not an official name, but rather a nickname for the W114/115 series, derived from the model’s identification plate and indicating that the line was introduced for the 1968 model year.

Daimler’s aim with the Stroke Eight was to create a model that would bring Mercedes to the masses. Smaller and initially less opulently-equipped than the contemporary W109 luxury models, these cars replaced the “Fintail” W110 series. In Mercedes speak, the model numbers (114/115) indicated cylinder count, with, strangely enough, the lower number indicating six-cylinder models and the higher number denoting the four-pot editions.

This 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250 features a 146-horsepower (gross) M114 SOHC straight-six engine under its hood, making it a W114 edition of the Stroke Eight. Y’all got that? There will be a test later.

That engine is paired with Mercedes’ own automatic, which, remarkably for an early ’70s car, offers four speeds, not just two or three. That’s just one unique feature that the Stroke Eight embodied, earning it the honor of being considered one of the most innovative cars of its era.

Other noteworthy features of this car include disc brakes at all four corners, when many carmakers offered only drums. A brand-new four-wheel independent suspension debuted on these cars, as well, and served as the basis for almost all Mercedes cars until the mid-1980s. Later models offered even more innovation, including the introduction of the first diesel five-cylinder engine on the market, and the inclusion of several safety measures, such as break-away rearview mirrors, ribbed tail lamp lenses to prevent vision-reducing dirt buildup, and pedestrian-protecting folding side mirrors.

This one also comes with some great standard features. Those include vent wings on the front doors (remember those?) and the most durable material known to man as its upholstery, the legendary MB-Tex.

As expected, that upholstery has held up well. In fact, the car overall looks to be solid save for a few boogers here and there. Those include some surface rust appearing under the side trim on the trunk, faded plastic on the back-of-the-car side marker lamps, and some cracking on the dash cap and one door pocket. Also, for some reason, the front passenger seat headrest is in the boot. On the plus side, the cabin still has its original Becker Europa stereo and is equipped with AirCon even if that’s old-school R12 and is in need of a charge.

Other pluses include relatively low mileage—112,000—and the promise of many more miles to come. The highest mileage Mercedes ever on record was a 1976 W115 240D driven by a Greek taxi driver named Gregorios Sachinidis, which racked up an impressive 2,850,000 miles over 23 years. That means this 250 is just getting warmed up.

In fact, the seller says that the car starts every time and is an excellent long-distance driver. It features new spark plugs, a fresh oil change, and a pair of rebuilt Zenith two-barrel carbs. The ad notes that the original carbs will come with the car, perhaps as curios. The title is clean, and the reason given for the sale is a lack of use.

The seller asks $9,500 for the car and makes a point in the ad to say that they are in no hurry to sell it. Nor are they interested in trades or scams, so you can put away those magic beans. The W114/115 doesn’t have the following of the later W123 cars, perhaps because Mercedes added an estate edition to that car’s model line, and that proved wildly popular both when new and in the used car universe. The Stroke Eight could only be had as a coupe or, like this car, a stately saloon. 

It was very successful for its time, as Mercedes built nearly 2 million of them over the model’s eight-year run. It’s not, however, something you see often today, which makes this one intriguing. What do you think? Is it intriguing enough to command $9,500? Or does that price tag have you thinking, “Strike that”?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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